Under the Weather

WEATHER: The wind should be a consistent NW’ly flow tomorrow. The forecast is for NNW winds on Friday, strengthening to 22-29 knots depending on where each team is in the fleet. As the wind builds the waves are expected to shift to the NNW also.

Following seas and tail winds are a dream ride for an ocean rowboat, but it’s early days in the row to Hawaii and the first instinct of many teams is often to stop the train and go on sea anchor. Hawaii is at a latitude of 21 degrees and crews are currently between a latitude of 35 and 33 degrees. There is some ways to go south yet. Run SW / S with the wind is our advice.

Today we start with the report regarding Endurance Limits. Matt Knight, one of the crew of Endurance Limits, was transferred from the rowing boat ‘Ohana’ to the Support Yacht ‘Nomad’ earlier this morning. He has left the race due to continued and severe seasickness. An official statement regarding Matt Knight and Endurance Limits can be found here.

The support and well wishes for Matt has been overwhelming. A post from their Facebook page states the following:

The team is understandably gutted that this has happened. They are physically and mentally exhausted, but after coming this far, it’s going to take much more than this to stop them! Darren, Arron and Raf have bravely decided to go on as a team of three. This won’t be easy, and it might not work, but they will try regardless!

Now, more than ever, the team needs all of our support. Please share the post, share the page, donate through the link below and let’s do everything we can to show the team that all of this effort isn’t for nothing!”
#endurancelimits #greatpacificrace #getwellsoonmatthttps://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/EnduranceLimitsMF

We also received an information request from Sam Geeson: “I’m sure everyone supporting Team Endurance Limits as I am would like to know if Matt Knight can re-join his team mates if he gets fit?”

The response from GPR Safety Officer Lia Ditton: “Once it has been decided by the race organisation and the rower, to remove a crew member for medical reasons, he or she needs to be checked out by a medical professional and allowed sufficient time to recover. By then the boat will have transited several hundred miles south / southwest. The support vessels also need to canvas the whole fleet.”

Just when Darren, Raf and Arron thought they could get back to rowing, they had an issue with their steering. The bolt holding the bracket around the top of the rudderstock had sheared. Unfortunately they do not have a spare bolt of this kind on board. When you are on a small vessel and have limited equipment, sometimes you have to get a little creative. For the time being, the crew have been able to hold the rudderstock together using a monkey wrench. This solution may not last all the way to Hawaii, but we are confident that the creative minds of Darren, Raf and Arron will figure something out. We look forward to their YB Race track showing a smother line in the coming hours as they sort out this steering issue.

In other news, over on Endurance Limits USA, we have noticed that their path, along with that of Row Aloha, has turned more to the south, southwest. We learned today that Ryan and Erin are both rowing during the day and rotating with one rower only during the night. This shift pattern is brutally harsh, as rather than 12 hours of rest, (which most other team’s schedules allow for) this set of watches means they’re rowing closer to 18 hours a day. Savage!

Louis Bird of Sons of the Pacific texted in that he is doing well and that he finds that every day gets easier. “It’s just so bloody alien out here! But I’ve got a great partner (Erden Eruc) who knows it it all.” Erden currently holds the second place record of having the most days of ocean rowing, second only to Louis’ father Peter Bird. Louis admitted that the conditions have been “tough – and looking forward to that one knot current in our favour!”